González, an East Bay resident for about 50 years who taught creative writing and poetry in the Peralta Community College District for more than three decades, was recognized by the City Council on Sept. 12.

“Rafael’s poetry is often reflective of his political activism, having demonstrated against the wars in Iraq, the Gulf, and Vietnam, and has been involved with the Farm Workers Movement and environmental activism,” reads in part a proclamation from Mayor Jesse Arreguin.

At his Nov. 30 reading, González will be accompanied by Gerardo Omar Marín on flute.

González posted his poem “On Being Named First Poet Laureate of the City” on his blog:

I accept the laurels conferred upon me
with thanks & humbly knowing
there are many more worthy
to be named first Poet Laureate
of the city since its founding.
Poets were once laurel crowned
for their eloquence in praising
the king, the nation, the city
but I am known to be most
particular in what & whom I praise.
I will not wear my laurels lightly
in honor of the belovèd city
to praise when it serves justice,
to protest when it does not.

Tom Lochner covers Berkeley and occasionally West Contra Costa County for the Bay Area News Group. Tom grew up in Western Europe. He was a translator for a patent law firm and an international bank in Manhattan, then a housing manager in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan, before moving to California to become a journalist.

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